Quotation Marks
Quoting Someone's Exact Words
Definition: Quotation marks are used to show that an author is using someone else's exact words—they may be the words of a person, a character, or a written source.

Direct Quotation
Use quotation marks only when quoting someone's exact words, either spoken or written. This is called a direct quotation.

EXAMPLE
"I prefer my cherries chocolate covered," joked Alyssa.
Jackie kept repeating, "Good dog, good dog!"
"How long will it take you?" asked Mom.

Placement of Quotation Marks
Place the opening quotation mark where the speaker's words start, and the closing quotation mark where the speaker's words end.

EXAMPLE
"I have wanted to buy my own truck for a long time," said Jordan.

If a quotation is more than one sentence long, place the first quotation mark where the quote begins, and the second one at the end of the last sentence. It's not necessary to put quotation marks around each individual sentence in the quote.

EXAMPLE
"I have been saving money for two years. I almost have enough for the down payment," Micah told him.

It's also important to remember that quotation marks close and then open again if the quote is interrupted.

EXAMPLE
"I guess I should start saving money, then," replied Jordan, "if I am ever going to buy one."

Indirect Quotation
Definition: An indirect quotation is a sentence that reports what a speaker said or wrote, but it does not use the person's exact words. Indirect quotations do not need quotation marks.The word that often indicates that the statement is an indirect quotation.

EXAMPLE
Alyssa joked that she preferred her cherries covered with chocolate.
Jackie told her dog that she was a good dog.

Sometimes it may be difficult to tell whether a statement is a direct or indirect quotation, but the verb tense and word order can give you some clues.

Indirect:	Mom asked how long it would take us to get to the Grand Canyon.
Direct:	Mom asked, "How long will it take us to get to the Grand Canyon?"

Quotation Marks with Dialogue
Declarative Sentences
When capitalizing and punctuating dialogue containing, it is easiest to start by focusing on how you would write the dialogue in sentence form. Then add narrative elements (such as Jaime said or Mandy asked), additional punctuation (where necessary), and quotation marks.

EXAMPLE
Jailen said, "Scientists hope that someday people will live on Mars."
Adrian answered, "That sounds like science fiction to me."

Notice that the quotation's capitalization stays the same. In this case the end punctuation stays the same as well, but it may change depending on where the narrative element falls in the sentence (keep reading to learn more).

Punctuation: narrative element first
If the narrative element comes first, it is always followed by a comma. The quotation will end with a period. 

EXAMPLE
Jailen said, "Scientists hope that someday people will live on Mars."
Adrian answered, "That sounds like science fiction to me."

Punctuation: narrative element last
If the narrative element comes last, change the period at the end of the quotation to a comma. This is because you can't put a period in the middle of a sentence. If you did, your reader would not understand that the narrative element is connected to the quote. The narrative element will be followed by a period since it falls at the end of the sentence.

EXAMPLE
"Scientists hope that someday people will live on Mars," said Jailen.
"That sounds like science fiction to me," answered Adrian.

Punctuation: split quotations (narrative element in the middle)
If the narrative element comes in the middle of the quotation, add one comma to the end of the first part of the quotation, and another comma after the narrative element. The quotation will end with a period.

EXAMPLE
"Scientists hope," said Jailen, "that someday people will live on Mars."
"That sounds," answered Adrian, "like science fiction to me."

Note:
In American English, commas and periods always go inside the quotation marks, never outside. British English follows different conventions that are not covered in this lesson.

Questions and Exclamations
Punctuation: narrative element first or split quotation
Unlike periods, question marks and exclamation marks never change to commas. That's because we need these marks to indicate that the quotation is interrogative or exclamatory, not declarative. Question marks and exclamation marks go inside the quotation marks when they are part of the original quotation. For split quotations, it's also necessary to add a comma after the first part of the quotation and after the narrative element (just like you would with a declarative quotation).

Narrative element first:

EXAMPLE
Fred asked, "What is your name?"
Sam yelled over the roaring crowd, "My name is Sam!"

Split quotation:

EXAMPLE
"What," Fred asked, "is your name?"
"My name," Sam yelled over the roaring crowd, "is Sam!"

Quotes Within Quotes
If the author quotes a speaker who quotes another speaker, use double quotation marks around the first speakers words, and single quotation marks around the second speaker's words. In other words, for a quote within the quote, use single quotation marks.

Quoting one person:	Our teacher told us, "This assignment is due Friday."
Quote within a quote:	Tracy said, "Our teacher told us, 'This assignment is due Friday.'"

Emphasizing Words
It's best not to use quotation marks for emphasis or for "words used as words." Most style guides recommend using italics instead.

EXAMPLE
You used the word then too often in your essay.

Nicknames
Nicknames are generally enclosed in quotation marks.

EXAMPLE
Her name is Elizabeth, but she has always been called "Beth."

Using Words in Unconventional Ways
Sometimes people use quotation marks to indicate that a word is being used in an ironic, sarcastic, or unusual way.

EXAMPLE
I spent my "vacation" working hard.

This person probably spent his or her vacation time working, so the word vacation is being used ironically.

Translations
Quotation marks can be used when writing the translation of a word. The foreign word is usually written in italics.

EXAMPLE
Although gelato translates to "ice cream," the two desserts are not exactly the same.

Quotation Marks vs Italics in Titles
When referring to a title, use italics (or underlining in handwriting) for longer works and quotation marks for shorter works. Don't use either one for the title on a document you are writing yourself, such as an essay. You only need to use italics or quotation marks when you are referring to a work.

Hint:
If you could buy the item by itself, use italics. If you have to buy a larger object in order to get what you want, use quotes.

Italics	Quotation Marks	Examples
Book Book-length play	Chapter Poem Essay Short story Short (1-2 act) play	I read the fourth chapter, "Acrobatic Kites," in the book Best Kite Building Ever. Our class read the television play "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" before we tackled Hamlet.
Magazine or Newspaper	Article	The article "Four Fabulous Heroes" in last week's New York Times was inspiring.
Television series	Episode	"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" was the most watched episode of M*A*S*H*.
Movie	Scene (You would only refer to a scene when referring to the movie script itself, and only if that scene has an actual title.)	I think I have watched The Sound of Music at least twenty times. We had to shoot the last scene, "The Goodbye," twenty-three times.
CD or album	Song	My favorite song is "Isn't She Lovely" from Stevie Wonder's album Songs in the Key of Life.
Website	Web page	I found this information on Wikipedia on the page "William Crookes."
Building	N/A	While we were in New York, we visited the Empire State Building.
Vehicle	N/A	The space shuttle Discovery is now in Washington, D. C.